|
KOREA VETERANS
ASSOCIATION |
|
L'ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES VÉTÉRANS DE LA CORÉE |
|
|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- November 2009 Newsletters (5 Newsletters) December 1, 2009 Salute to Able Seaman December 7, 2009 Comrades Never Forgotten December 09, 2009 Korea’s Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs website December 14, 2009 Both of his parents buried in same hallowed ground December 14, 2009 Former Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson December
18, 2009 Korea’s President to send Appreciation Letters to 100,000 Korea War Veterans
December 20, 2009
Vic Dey, president of the Korea Veterans Association of Australia, wrote this article for KOREA.net Gateway to Korea, the official publication of the Korean Culture and Information Service. The article was published on Friday, December 18.
By Vic Dey President, Korea Veterans Association of Australia Vic Dey, cleaning weapon during some down time in Korea From a personal point of view my service in Korea began in June 1952 and finished in June 1953. Basically this was because an Australian soldier signed on for a one-year tour of duty in Korea at the time. Most Australian soldiers trained in Japan until required for service in Korea, for example when another soldier's time was up, or there were casualties, or a soldier was on leave (rest and recreation, or R&R). This way there were always back-up personnel. Having just turned 22 on arriving in Korea, my mind was quite unprepared for the destruction and devastation which I was to witness. As a teenager growing up in Australia, one could go to a theatre and watch movies, some of which were of World War One or World War Two. My first trip back to Korea was in 1976. Seoul was still in the rebuilding stage but the transformation from what I remembered to what lay before me was incredible. In 1976 there was a curfew in place: between midnight and 6 a.m. every person had to be off the streets. An armed sandbag circle check point was at every intersection. the people disappeared off the streets at midnight and reappeared at 6 a.m. Amazing.
Seoul was in ruins, from memory the biggest building was the railway station. I believe Uijeongbu was in worse condition than Seoul; the mud streets and buildings without roofs were a terrible sight. My next visit was in 2003. A further transformation and growth had taken place. I really believe that you had to witness the devastation to appreciate the fantastic changes. The city had become huge, lively and quite a beautiful place to visit. Although it appears crowded, the people are extremely friendly, courteous and helpful. The tour up to and including the DMZ bought gasps of amazement from the old Veterans. During the Korean War, vegetation was non-existent. Now the countryside and mountains are covered with trees and the cities all have beautiful shrubs and flowers. The old thatched roofs seemed to have disappeared and tiled roofs have replaced them. What a transformation! The resilience of the Korean people, the generosity freely given to all UN veterans during tours, the growth of the Republic of Korea from the ruins we knew in those days to the beautiful country that it is today is proof that our comrades who lie in the UN Cemetery in Busan did not make the supreme sacrifice in vain.
Above article provided courtesy of the Korean War Veteran, koreavetnews@aol.com
|
|
|
